An Intruder in the House

I recommend reading The start of a Nu Journey and The End of a Nu Journey before you read this one as it is a sequel to those stories.

Ragna was sitting alone in his living room watching a rerun of his favorite show, A Fistful of Bang, and laughing everytime the main character would end up injuring himself one way or the other. His laughter, however, was cut short with the sound of rustling in the kitchen. He narrowed his eyes and stood up, slowly making his way to the exit of the living room.

"Who could that be? I know I locked all of the doors when I came inside from work." Ragna said quietly to himself. He was not about to yell like all of the stupid people he sees in the movies. Everytime that happens, something bad always happens after they yell for the person to come out. Ragna continued to slowly creep his way to the kitchen, but as he stepped onto the first linoleum tile, the rustling stopped and he heard rapid footsteps and giggling echoing through the house.

"Ack!" Ragna gasped and jumped back. That laugh made his hair stand up on the back of his neck. He had never heard such an otherworldly giggle before. What could make him tense up like that? He had never felt like this before.

"Alright, this is ridiculous. Who could be in here with me? It couldn't be a...ghost...could...it?" Ragna gulped. He may be a man of stout body and mind, but he was deathly afraid of ghosts...even though he would never tell anybody that outright. It would ruin his macho image that he had worked his whole life to achieve.

"Relax, Ragna, there is no such thing as ghosts. It is just some kid playing a stupid prank or something...or maybe it is Rachel. She seems to like getting me all flustered and annoyed at every chance she gets...I should stop talking to myself now...Even I am beginning to think I am going crazy. Hahahaha..." He assured himself, although he wasn't sure if he was very convincing as he noticed that his voice was shaky as he said this. His footsteps seemed to echo louder than normal as he made his way through the house looking for the source of the laughter which was still echoing throughout the halls.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'M GONNA GET YOU, RAGNA!" A shrill voice echoed through his ears and made him jump enough to make it into the olympics with ease. He was now officially freaked out and was wondering if he was even awake. He pinched himself.

"OW! Yep, awake, this can't be happening to me. What is going on here?" He asked himself. Was his house always this big? He felt as if he had been walking for miles. At the end of the hall, he saw the silhouette of what looked like a young girl fading in and out like she was intangible. He took a step back, but then steeled himself and continued forward. The longer he walked however, the further she seemed to get and he seemed to be staying in the same place.

"Who are you? What are you?" Ragna yelled down the hall. He was only answered with more giggling and the silhouette of the girl moving further away.

"COME ON, RAGNA. YOU CAN CATCH ME." The girl said as she disappeared into a room at the end of the hall. He walked and walked. His feet were beginning to become sore. He had to have walked at least a mile by now. There was no way that this was happening to him. This had to be a dream, even if he knew he was awake. There was no way this was real. Suddenly, the walls around him began to shift and warp as if they were melting from the very fabric of reality.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" Ragna screamed. He began running. He ran as fast as he could down that hall. He knew that the only way out of this was to find that girl and beat the answers out of her. There was something...familiar...about her though. Something that was very important to him. Why couldn't he remember? What was going on?

"Ragna...help me...it's so cold...so dark...I just want to come home..." He heard a whisper and he suddenly found himself inside a room he had not disturbed in his home for a long time. He could not remember what the room was for, but he knew it was important.

"What is this...why do I feel like this room should be important to me?" Ragna said as he began to inspect the room. It was painted a light blue color and had a twin bed pushed against the wall. On the bed, there were multitudes of stuffed animals lined up like a small fuzzy zoo. He suddenly felt warm. He smiled. He enjoyed this feeling. It was so...serene. He began to take in the environment around him. There was a small desk with a lamp and a chair that looked as if they had not been used in years. The closet was full of girls clothes, from the looks of it probably between the ages of 16 and 18 and of small stature.

"I feel like I should be remembering something." He said to himself. He felt a cold chill run down his neck and he shivered.

"Ragna...you have forgotten me..." He heard another whisper as he suddenly started moving to the desk. His hand reached forward of its own accord and opened the desk. Inside, he found a scrapbook. He opened it to find a multitude of drawings and stories of him and another girl. Who was she? Where was she now? From the looks of it, she was important to him. He felt another chill and suddenly, a rush of memories of years ago invaded his mind.

"Nu is lost...can Nu stay here tonight?"

"Please, Ragna, can we go to the new amusement park? Nu will be good."

"Nu wants Pizza for dinner, Ragna"

"Ragna, stay with Nu forever..."

"Just tell Nu...that you love her..."

"ARGH!" Ragna grunted while holding his head. Suddenly, the young girl appeared before him. She was no longer transparent. She was wearing a hospital gown and her long, white hair was flowing behind her even though there was no wind.

"Ragna...you forgot about Nu...even though Nu has wanted to be here with you..." The girl said as she hung her head. Ragna stood up and walked slowly to the girl and took her into an embrace as he began to cry.

"Nu...why did you leave me...I'm sorry I forgot about you...I don't know how that happened...I'm sorry...please forgive me, Nu. I love you...Always and forever..." Ragna said with tears running down his face. The girl just looked up at him and smiled.

"Thank you, Ragna. That is all Nu wanted to hear before she is finally able to leave. She wants to be here with you, but she can't. Nu has to go now." She said as she began to fade. Ragna couldn't bear to lose her again. He remembered how she looked in that hospital bed, surrounded by him, Noel, and Rachel...before she...before she left us all behind. He remembered how Noel gave him her scrapbook after and how he put it here to never forget. He had betrayed her and he knew he did not deserve her forgivness.

"Nu...please...don't leave me again. I can't bear to lose you twice in the same life..." He pleaded with the fading girl. He felt lips press against his. He opened his eyes as she pulled away and saw her sweet smile. The smile that kept him going when she was here. It was the most beautiful smile anyone could ever look upon. She was an angel.

"Nu has to go now Ragna. Please don't forget about Nu. Nu will always love you." The girl said as she disappeared from the room in a flash of light. Ragna fell to his knees grasping at thin air hoping to feel the warmth of the one he loved once more, but it never came. Ragna just fell onto the floor and ended up crying himself to sleep. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to get up again. The room went dark as sleep overtook him and his last thought was that he could be with Nu again.

"Huh? Where am I?" Ragna said as he woke up on his couch in the living room. The episode of A fistful of Bang was still running so he had to have been dreaming the entire time. He had to admit, that was the most realistic dream he had ever had. He sat up and felt something uncomfortable under him so he reached underneath and when he pulled out the object, his face went white.

Underneath him, was Nu's scrapbook and taped to it was a note. All that was on the note was,

"Ragna, Nu will always love you. Forever and ever."

END

AUTHORS NOTES- another story that is also linked to my two stories, A start of a nu journey and the end of a nu journey so I recommend reading those before this one to understand what is going on completely. Dont forget to R&R. Thanks for all of your support and you guys keep me going. I hope you enjoyed this one. I still love writing about Nu. She is just such a fun character.

-Echoesofmercy